[THE INVESTOR] South Korea‘s top 30 business groups will pay nearly 8 trillion won (US$7.28 billion) in advance to their suppliers ahead of the upcoming Chuseok holiday , a survey showed on Sept. 9.

In the survey conducted by the Federation of Korean Industries, the 30 largest business groups here said they planned to pay 7.94 trillion won in advance to their suppliers before the start of the three-day holiday on Sept. 14.

The amount marks a 31.9 percent spike from a year earlier, according to the FKI, the largest business lobby with the top 600 firms in South Korea under its wings.

The money is intended to help smaller firms pay their own employees as most South Korean companies offer special bonuses to their workers around major holidays which also include Lunar New Year.

To this end, the top businesses will pay 71.1 percent or some 5.65 trillion won out of the total in cash, while 2.13 trillion won or 26.8 percent will be paid in cashable assets, such as checks or gift cards.

“Large companies are trying to help their subcontractors although they are facing various difficulties. The advance payments also represent the widespread culture of co-prosperity and development among companies here,” the FKI said in a press release.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)